In the 1980’s I received environmental studies and architecture degrees from the University of Waterloo, in Canada, and quickly found myself working in zoo species breeding facilities research across the USA and Canada. As a committed conservationist, I joined with a number of colleagues from zoos and psychology to think about how zoos might achieve their potential for advancing conservation in society. We imagined a new field, Conservation Psychology, that acknowledged that importance of social sciences as parallel to the work the physical scientists to ensure that people protect the systems on which all life depends. Our movement flourished, and led me to in a mid-career pivot to pursue my Ph.D. in Environmental Studies, an appointment at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, and a role creating the Society for Conservation Biology’s Social Science Working Group. I received my Ph.D. in 2009 and in 2010 Conservation Psychology was recognized by the American Psychological Association as part of a renamed Division for Environmental, Population, and Conservation Psychology.

Today, much of my research focuses on group beliefs and how groups come together to drive conservation action. As Director of Mission Impact at ASLC, it is my responsibility to be the ensure that principles of culturally responsive action research theory are central to our practice, and to ensure that we’re all using the latest social science to help people understand what we can do to protect the amazing biodiversity in the Arctic and its centrality to the food security of our global community.